Personally I’d be all for this, but I didn’t use my account for a few years after I Initially joined, so i’d be pissed if I lost my username just cos I had better things in life to do for a while.
I’d think a better idea would be for steamgifts to contact said user to allow them the chance to come back, and confirm they want to retain info.
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Accounts should be auto deleted when not logged into the site for 3 years+
- That would make searching, with/for names, much easier.
- Would reduce the needed server space.
- Lower the time for backups.
- Make names free
To name the things that comes direct in my mind.
I said it years ago.. but i don't expect that it will bring this time more as the one(s) before.
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Literally the first comment in the same topic is about how one would be mad if they would have lost their name after not using the site for years, deleting accounts is quite harsh - and one-sided.
Server space and CG can judge if it's a trouble (there are a lot of accounts, but it's unsure how much data is linked to each) - but server space is rarely an issue.
For searching it would be good to have an "inactive" flag and a toggle to include or exclude those users from the search. I wouldn't be surprised if it wouldn't exist for backups - with about a million account and maybe a few ten thousands active it would be silly to re-check every data, while ignoring the fact that xXxLadyKiller420xXx haven't visited the site in the past 8 years.
For names, it would make sense to reset names to their Steam64 ID, but - at least based on what I've seen - it's not really a common practice to mess around with accounts because someone else wants that name.
edit: not to mention the fact that if you delete accounts then all connected giveaways are gone. On BLAEO a game won on steamgifts just turns into a random game because no GA to link it to. Also unsure what happens with a giveaway where the winner is deleted
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Of course i had in my mind that each one get contacted before his account get deleted and can visit the site/hit on a button to prevent the deletion (1 month timeframe or something like this).
But, to be honest, i don't thought about the connected giveaways and other sites like BLAEO.
That could be a problem.
Easy solution, only delete, inactive, level 0 accounts. They are anyway the biggest part of the site.
I think that would give nearly the max. for all without a negative effect (yes, they have maybe won games but is it important if they played them (if not in the first 2 years) ? I think, not really...).
When they get active again, they can make a new account, without to loose something.
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Deleting someone's account is harsh.
I wouldn't mind if the person never did any giveaways, or never posted. That would be fine then to delete the account after a specified period of time. But deleting an established account because someone took a hiatus for a few years? I'd be furious if I was them.
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Would be a reasonable option but I'd add a log, linking to (renamed) accounts that previously held that name.
Deleting accounts isn't really an option with people spending money to level up here.
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I agree. Sending a deletion notice to old accounts and auto-deleting them after a while if no action is taken by the owner of the account.
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The renamed account could take the form: "user - steamID64" to keep it somewhat relevant to the old user name. Regarding the inactive time or any other considerations those would need to be discussed and planned, e.g. for someone who hasn't logged in years there's a chance an email/notification will go unnoticed for more than a month.
In this particular case, for example, the other user hasn't even made a single comment ever since, so it's probably safe to say that that account is safe to be renamed. There are indications as to whether someone used the site at some point and went away for reasons. It can't be black & white though.
Deleting inactive accounts? December 2019-(next) December 2022 would be since the pandemic started.. that's how short that space is! Remember rachellove? (and others, but that name just came up) It's been 6 years since, but that's part of SG history now. You don't just delete stuff.. We're not IMDB here..
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I'm not sure I agree. Years ago my computer broke and I couldn't afford a new one at the time so I took a several year long break from the site. I had every intention of returning when I had a working computer again. I would have been sad if my username was gone. Probably wouldn't have come back.
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I assume your "years ago" is a bit longer ago. Correct ?
How many people have nowadays not a PC, a laptop or a mobile phone to handle their mailbox and open a site like sg ?
I think we can say, nearly none.
And if someone don't have a own PC/Laptop, then he can use the ones of family, friends, in a public library, in the work.
I see only a problem if someone is in a jail for 3 years+ but i am sure then his sg account is his smallest problem.
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Honestly, there are so many well known people that are no longer active I would not want to start second guess if someone is back or their name was just claimed by random user after x years. I would not want to have my user name be used by someone else if I'd go inactive for few years. And some "reminder" emails won't work if inactivity is due to personal issues, losing access to email associated with SG etc.
It is something that identify us on this website and I think it should not be changed. Couple users that would want to claim name of someone else due to inactivity can contact them on Steam. And anyone who wants their username to be un-claimed before they leave SG can start delete account procedure.
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A persons name is their alter ego online, it doesn't matter if they aren't currently around, its their persona. They could have had the name for years and be well known within the communities they visit, someone taking their name could cause confusion thinking that you are someone else.
I don't think anyone here would really like to be away for awhile only to come back to find their persona is being used by someone else, what happens then? Do you give back their name when they revisit the community?? I doubt you'll want to do that because now it's your name although it's not really as you stole its identity.
Here's just an idea and don't slay me for saying this but... what's wrong in getting a unique name to you instead of trying to take someone elses?? Just a thought!
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I don't think you're attacking anyone and I don't mean to sound as if I'm attacking you either. I just see it as slippery slope if we start to allow folks to take names of someone else, sooner or later someone's going to want their name back.
May be yes you could take that name as they have never really used it here but where do you draw the line before folks start wanting other people names.
Why not try adding an extra character to your name like Senses™ or Senses! something which allows you the name but also identifies you as a different person from Senses.
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Why not try adding an extra character to your name like Senses™ or Senses!
If the site allows special characters to begin with, then this whole topic is a non-issue, as ascii character access would make it relatively easy to duplicate names without any meaningful visible differences (ie, through blank space or similar characters). However, given the fact that I've never seen a single "why is this drunk child even on the internet" formatted name on SG, I'm going to assume the site- like most sites- blocks special characters.
That said, their Steam vanity URL is "NoSenses" anyway (meaning there's no disconnect on core name association to begin with), so all they're really asking for is a nickname preference- and there's far, far easier ways to approach that than changing one's username. Namely, simply adding a nickname/about/etc field to user profiles would easily handle that.
For further benefit, if a nickname-specialized field is added, a request to the ESGST developer could add nickname display [ie, next to usernames] as a toggleable option for that script. In fact, it may be possible to have ESGST add that field on its own, without cg's intervening at all, much like how Augmented/Enhanced Steam adds self-contained visual modifications to Steam profiles.
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I wasn't sure if you could or couldn't, it would explain why my name has no space or underscore between my names, its been awhile since I added the name. :)
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In real life, when you move from city A to city B, does this allow any random person from city A to take over your name after a few years ?
(voted Nay btw)
edit: that question can also be about something else than "your name", for exemple "the name of your shop", or if you're a street artist, "your artist name", etc. etc. etc.
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I disagree, and in fact I don't really want to argue about that, sorry.
The "name" abstract object is always tied to a person, so it has nothing to do with the "place" where it's used.
Having different rules IRL and on internet most probably means people who wrote those rules are misunderstanding what a "name" is.
Or to say that in a less "offensive" wording : when one wants to discuss about rules themselves, one shall not assume people who wrote the rules did the cleverest possible job ; because discussing rules implies a decent part of criticism about the rules.
Anyway, the issue is about namesakes (different persons with identical names), and that's only a technical issue (websites made in a way namesakes are not managed), as a consequence there is absolutely no need here to change any real world nor any internet rule about names 😉
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If the guy is still using Steam, you can try to add him and ask if he would accept to change his username. That's what I did a few years ago, in order to get "Saint" which was in use by an inactive user on SG.
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No one is gonna bother to remember long ass random characters to know who is trustworthy. That's what unique usernames are for.
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It's doable I suppose.
Like >2y of inactivity - change user name to f.e.: Inactive7647279a
I don't expect that it would happen though. I mean - there are more urgent matters, affecting all of the users and they were not touched for years :)
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I wouldn't mind being able to use just "DaLe" as nick here. But then again, as it is quite a common name, it often is already taken on various sites, and up to me to come up with something more rare. Which isn't too difficult on SG though, as 1,147,588 users isn't that many - leaving options such as i.e. "D4Le", "DaLe3000", etc. etc., or something actually creative for that matter.
So yeah, if the option would be available, I would make use of it. But not really something I feel strongly about that should exist, because, as said, when I use a nick which is quite common, then I can't be surprised that it is common. And as some mentioned here, the moment I will eventually use a nick very unique, I wouldn't be glad if due to a bit of inactivity I would have to come up with something new when someone else would be able to take it (regardless of whether just using eventual popularity associated with the nick or randomly having come up with it too).
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I could see this applied for accounts that never contributed anything, be it to discussions or giveaways. Say 2+ years of inactivity, 0 giveaways created, and <10 comments made, but I would not be for it for accounts of users who used to be an active part of the community, for reasons listed by other users above.
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What if someone just lurks around while not being logged, because they go for a high score? Like 5 years of not logging in.
Like me with 5 years on discord and no blue :eyes:
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I'm going to be honest and a little shame never killed anyone so I'm going for it... I had never seen that you can change your nickname on steamgift. And since I don't have the same problem as you, it's done for me
Here I am with the same name here and on steam :D
Thanks for the info and in relation to your post, I agree with you, it's terribly frustrating to enter a website and not be able to use your nickname... even more so of course if it's used by someone who left the community a long time ago.
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I pity the poor soul who winds up with the username konrads6 after it becomes available.
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I have seen this discussion on many fora over the years. The arguments for and against usually follow the same pattern. This use case is certainly less stressful than that of MMO's where each user can have multiple character names claimed. :)
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I think a little improvisation can be used:"S3ns3s" or "Sens3s" or "Sense5" instead of plain "senses",what do you think?
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While this sounds like a good idea, there are some popular users who have left their mark on the site and taking their usernames from them due to inactivity sounds.. harsh.
I don't have an idea for a good alternate solution, I like that every username is unique and can't be copied on SG at least.
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I like that solution, and considering lvl 0 accounts are the bulk of the users here, it would clear up most of the usernames and prevent any impersonations. (I don't remember ever seeing a lvl 0 on the forums, aside from the few who ask question about giveaways instead of looking at the FAQ.)
I think up to lvl 3 with less than 100 comments and a 3 years of inactivity would be the absolute limit? Considering how easy it is to get there.
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This is a common issue on the internet, especially for less unique nicks. With proper precautions this would probably work. Yet to avoid abuse some protective measures are mandatory. Email warning is a bare minimum. I would also add some activity measure (number of comments, GAs, etc) and adjust the minimal inactivity time on that, so that it would be close to impossible to reclaim and impersonate some well established names.
Still as some people have already pointed out such cleaning is most useful against accounts with possibly even no activity. If somebody logs in using steam and then doesn't use the site for a few years, he's unlikely to even remember that he ever registered
Sooner or later anybody will end up signing up to a site where his nick is taken, so we all have to be ready to make some adjustments. In the end most portals work with the first come first served assumption
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Seems reasonable. I'm pretty sure it's also mandatory now for most websites in the Eurozone due to privacy concerns as I keep receiving emails left and right from websites I haven't logged into in years, telling me I'm going to lose my account if I don't log in soon.
Also great GA! Not potato at all! I just "finished" playing it (except I haven't finished because that means taking the last of my friends to the everdoor and I refuse to do it. I'll keep sailing forever) and hm... yeah having trouble letting go obviously.
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